Waltham Shell

Surprised at all the awful reviews. I have taken my car to the garage here twice & have had great experiences both times. They always find a time to fit us in quickly, get the job done right away, and the prices are reasonable. I never feel as if we are scammed into getting more done than needed.
We will definitely return!

Very friendly workers. Great location. The store and gas pumping area are clean. Offer a variety of snacks.

This guy is a thief. He’s a flat out crook. I took my car here about 2 years ago. Without going into too many grueling details, I’ll just say that every time I brought it to him he would find some nit picky thing wrong with it. Each time he’d offer to fix it (for an arm and a leg), I’d decline and have it fixed elsewhere for a much better price. It got the the point that I brought it back a FIFTH time only for him to fail me for mildly worn windshield wipers and mildly worn tires. He clearly held a grudge because I refused to let him fix it for his ridiculous prices. I took my car somewhere else and it passed inspection that day.
Yesterday, against my better judgement, because it was late in the day and my girlfriend was on her last day to get it inspected, we took it to this guy for a sticker. My girlfriend has a brand new car that has barely been driven. This thief said her parking lights were too dim, and said they needed to be replaced or else he would fail her. He of course offered to change them. We waited in the waiting room for a half hour. He charged us 30 extra dollars. We paid 65 bucks for a 35 dollar inspection. I called my mechanic friend as we were leaving, he told me the bulb costs 2 dollars for a pack of 2. This rat fink charged me 30 dollars for it.
The guys a flat out crook, and he’s rude to his customers as well. Also believe the stories of him being sexist, as it’s her car yet he only would speak to me about it. Avoid this place at all costs

Believe everyone this place is terrible. My daughter had a starter problem. Had it towed there. Replaced the starter. Said I needed two new tires in the front. I bought them. Couple of weeks later the tire and rim fell off the car while my daughter was driving. They never tighten the lug nuts. Had to have it towed back to them. Had the audacity to say it was my daughter’s fault because she drove 300 miles. Even worse when he finally put the tire on the rim and my daughter got the car back ready to come back to Rhode Island the other tire was doing the same thing, so I had to drive up to Massachusetts with my 2 ton jack, raise the car and tighten the lug nuts on the other tire otherwise it would’ve fell off on the highway. Now guess what, the starter doesn’t work. Tighten lug nuts is mechanics 101. repeat do not go to these people or you will be sorry

Absolutely disgusted… Pulled up to the pump last night at 9:55, they’re open until 10. The second we pulled up and got out of the car, tapped the stop & shop card. Right as I was putting my debit card in the slot, they shut off the lights and pumps. I walked over and said, I said I’m trying to pay for the gas, you’re really going to turn down more money? He goes, we’re closed, we closed a few minutes ago. I informed him that they close at 10, he responded with, our clock says 10:01. It’s company policy that we keep our clocks all the same, when my cell phone and car clock all said 9:57. Shut the door in my face, so I walked away. As I was sitting at the red light on Weston St, in between Walgreens and Shell. My sister and I witnessed the two «boys» fighting, one of them whips open the door and flips us off. After terrible service, and being flipped off, I’m never going back there again. I’m disgusted by the service. I’m calling the owner tomorrow, and corporate and putting in a formal complaint. This gas station was shut down for a while, except to do repairs, and now I’m surprised that they actually were able to open again. No wonder they never have any cars there…

Descent gas station grand opening which is nice. We come here to Waltham all the time with this gas station here if we need gas from our hotel we know where to go. And you know small duty free shop but it gets by a gas station is a gas station not a mall

I took my car here last year & should have learned from my last mistake but this place is very close to where I work and I was willing to give them another chance. The last time I dropped my car off there they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. I’m assuming its becuase the mechanic there completly relies on the dignostic machine to tell him what the issue is. I took my car to Monroe the next day & right away they figured out I needed new shockes & struts. Today I take my car here with a receipt of what was just fixed a few days ago by another mechanic and the reading I got at the Autozone just last night with the possibilities of what could be wrong. I told the mechanic that because the thermostat was just replaced that can be ruled out and one of the possible things to be replaced is the coolant temp sensor. Of course he argued with me that the Autozone reading isn’t a real reading and he insisted that I have a diagnostic done for $ 99. He didn’t even want to consider what I had to say. According to the mechanic the diagnosis is that the (brand new) thermostat is the problem. This makes no sense at all because my heat is working fine & all signs point to the coolant temp sensor. I think I’ve finally learned my lesson and will not be taking my car back. This mechanic made an easy $ 99 off me. Taking my car somewhere else to have the coolant temp sensor replaced.

I was surprised to see bad reviews for Waltham Shell. I have had my cars over the past 20 years inspected there and never had a problem (don’t want to jinx myself here).
When the Toyota dealership in Wellesley was unsuccessful in repairing my husband’s car long term (they wanted him to replace his old car) Shell did fix it successfully. I have liked the people there.

I’ve got two reasons for why this place sucks! I’ve never used this place for gas and it’s simply because of the pricing. I can easily go to Prospect St., which is a couple of blocks down, and go to the Hess gas station. The reason, gas prices will always be roughly 20 cents/​gallon cheaper than at Shell.
The second reason being the repair shop guy, Tony. This guy has a huge attitude problem. I visited this guy once last summer when I was having issues with my front wheel. The repair price: $ 300. I passed on that deal and went to Auto Zone. I got the part for $ 100, went to J & L Auto in Waltham, and they serviced the car for $ 40. So I ended up saving quite a lot of money.
Recently I got a new car and had to get it inspected. So I decided to see if things changed here in the past year, but apparently not. The guy still has a major problem talking to his customers. I wanted to stand by the the garage door on the side, not being in the way of anyone while the car was being inspected, and he was just like can you go outside or go inside my office in a very rude manner.
I get that it might be convenient for a lot of people to use this place considering its on a major intersection, but I highly recommend avoiding it. I will definitely not be visiting this place again. Tony thinks that its okay to be rude to his customers, and it just isn’t. If you need your car repaired, check out J & L Auto. Those guys are great.

Convenient gas station. Haven’t gotten any type of service here though. The gas prices are much higher than other places…

How is this place still in business? Nobody reads Unilocal

Four stars for being the only place open late, minus one for being on the expensive side, and minus another for stocking their coke fridge with Costco brand Kirkland sodas. I’m not a fool… I inquired about the price although I wasn’t gonna buy one, $ 1.29. Same as name brand… Go to heck… If it is past 11, I’ll still come, but I won’t like it!

UPDATE: I fixed my car with my own mechanic. I had my boyfriend bring my car back to get the sticker and the grimey mechanic talked so much about how RUDE I was for posting about him online. He even tried to have my boyfriend talk to me about taking the review off. Come ON! This guy is a straight up hustler who is looking to make a dollar on any little thing he can find. I wouldn’t trust this place because I’m sure he’d overcharge you for things that probably aren’t even wrong. RED FLAG!

Here is why I am giving Waltham Shell each star:
1. Consistently reasonable prices on gas
2. Convenient location
Due to #2, I’ve had a couple of oil changes/​inspections there. They consistently make me feel uncomfortable. It’s the type of place where I feel like I have to work to get a fair shake as a female. This isn’t because of my own antiquated stereotype of mechanics being sexist. I actually had a male friend come along for the ride one time that I went there. He wasn’t there to help or anything; we were just going out to grab some Chinese food after dropping off my car. However, the mechanic would only address him. I would respond to the mechanic’s questions, referencing «my car», yet the mechanic would only make eye contact with my friend, who was quietly standing behind me. It was very uncomfortable and more than a little demeaning.
Waltham Shell is good if you need gas in a pinch and are in the area. However, if you need actual work done, there are far less sketchy places in the Waltham area.

I really wish I had checked out the Unilocal reviews of this place before going there for my state inspection. What should have been a $ 29 inspection became a $ 70 rip off. Coming from a family of mechanics, I’m not exactly unfamiliar with how my car works. I’m no expert, or mechanic myself (can’t even change a tire), but I’m not as stupid as these @ssholes made me out to be.
I went there for my inspection. After about 5 minutes the guy comes out and has me go into the garage (hello liability — yes, I’m a lawyer) to see that my lights aren’t even. He says he’ll fix it for $ 20. He gives me the impression that this needs to be done for my car to pass inspection. I say fine, and resign myself to paying $ 49. It’s the last day of the month that I can get this done and I don’t want the hassle of having to come back.
A bit later he calls me in, tells me it’s done… BUT then he pulls off one of my windshield wipers, which I admit wasn’t in the best condition but it was still working. He proceeds to «demonstrate» that the wiper is shot by pulling on the rubber part of it, thereby ripping it off the blade! Then he says he’ll replace it — for another $ 12.
I told him from the getgo that the tube connecting my washer fluid tank to the sprayer was blocked and that he just needed to blow out the block with an airhose to the tube — a 2 second (should have been free) fix. Instead of doing that, he tells me that the fluid was empty (lie) and that he had to charge me $ 4 to fill it up (bullsh*t). When I complain about it he yells at me «I don’t work for free!»
Then I find out that he charged me another $ 5 to actually replace the bulb, instead of just adjusting it. I could have had my dad or uncle replace the bulb and it would’ve cost me $ 7. This douchebag charged me $ 25.
When I got into my car to check everything out, I pushed the stick for the windshield washer sprayer and it still didn’t work! I stormed back into his garage and told him he didn’t blow out the block. «No, it didn’t work because it was empty» I called him on his BS, got into a yelling match with him in his parking lot (in front of his other customers, who I hope left or at least had second thoughts), and made him fix it. He couldn’t figure out how to do it, so I actually had to borrow his air blower and do it myself.
NEVER AGAIN! I am furious and also disappointed in myself that I let myself get taken like that at all.
DO NOT GO HERE!!!

all these people are right. if you go here expect to be gouged. dont fall for it. get a second opinion at a reputable shop and they will tell you something totally different than what this place tells you.
better yet, dont even go here at all, even if it is «convenient». although i did get oil changes here because it was quick and easy and cheap, i dont do that anymore here. why should i, or anyone give this place business at all? please do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. i swear any place is better than here. trust all the reviewers.

Yikes. I went here once for an oil change and I will NEVER go back. Owner was sexist and rude, and the oil change took 45 minutes at 2pm on a weekday. While I was in the owner’s creepy office waiting for my credit card to go through, the guy asked me if I am Italian. I told him no, and he commented that it’s odd then that I have dark, curly hair. What the?
I should have known better than to go to a gas station for any kind of car service — I won’t make that mistake again.

1 star for good gas prices.
2 stars for an easy, fast inspections.
no more stars, because i’m 90% sure they were responsible for my missing registration and my debit card being «compromised».
and sorry folks, don’t take your car to a place like this to get work done. you’ll never come out ahead. find a reputable service shop here on Unilocal

I went in for an inspection sticker when he advised me not to get one because my car was not registered to the state of MA yet. As a new car owner, I really appreciated him turning down my $ 30 so I didn’t get The Commonwealth fining my dumb ass. +1
However, I didn’t enjoy the owner tell me that I, as a woman living alone, was unable to properly care and maintain her car and he advised me to get a thorough tune up, even though I had one done by the dealership only a few weeks back. Thanks for being totally condescending. –10

Boooo. A terrible place for repairs. The owner will gouge you, get your name wrong and tell you how direly you need to fix problems you don’t have. He’ll point to pictures of his kids and tell you you’re like the one of the gender that matches yours. Don’t fall for it.